


I‘ll Fight (For) You

by renistrash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Lesbian Allura (Voltron), M/M, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Supervillian Keith, also pidge is kinda like lances sidekick, i suppose? lance crushes immediately but thats really all that happens early, keith is like the hulk?, keith pines the altean and lance pines keith, more characters to be added as the story continues, more specifically theyre demigirl so she/they pronouns, so basically exactly like in miraculous ladybug whoops, superhero lance, this is my first fanfic go easy on me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-11 15:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15318657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renistrash/pseuds/renistrash
Summary: Keith has anger issues that manifest in him transforming into a scary purple creature, the Galra, and he's not great at coping with it. Lance has superpowers that come from a strange crystal he discovered, which turns him into an elf-ish super human, the Altean. The superhero institute Lance works for, Voltron, often has him fighting the Galra. What he doesn’t know is that the person he’s always fighting is actually his new roommate.





	1. Oh My God They Were Roommates

**Author's Note:**

> I had the idea for this story at 1 am and then couldn't sleep for over an hour despite not even writing any of it immediately, but I think it might be worth the loss of sleep. I hope you agree! This story should switch pov between Lance and Keith each chapter, but it starts in Lance's pov. Also I tagged Pidge as nonbinary but she's technically demigirl and uses she/her and they/them pronouns. Hope you enjoy!

Lance stares at the paper tacked to a cork board in a small cafe. It was headed with the words "Roommate Wanted" and continued with a description of the apartment and would-be roommate. A guy named Keith just a year older than Lance, and an apartment with two bedrooms and two baths. Exactly what Lance was looking for, and based of the location of the cafe, exactly where Lance was looking as well. Why hadn't he seen any mention of it when he was searching online?

Taking one more sip of his caramel macchiato, Lance reaches for his phone to call the number immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hi! My name's Lance, I'm calling about a roommate wanted poster," Lance says, trying to tone down the excitement in his voice.

"Oh. You looking for a place in the area?"

Lance represses the urge to reply with _obviously_ , instead saying, "Yeah, I haven't had much luck finding something affordable online, but your place sounds perfect! Did you not post anything about it online or did I just happen to miss it?"

"I guess I'm a bit old fashioned, I just put up posters around town. I'm home right now, if you're available and want to check the place out now I can text you the address?"

"Wow, really? That would be great! See you soon I guess?"

"See you," Keith replies before hanging up.

"God I hope this is as good as it sounds, I really need a place closer to Voltron," Lance says to himself, grabbing his coffee and walking out the door.

 

Lance stands outside the door of what could be his apartment in the near future. His mild nerves are amplified by the coffee, and he bounces on his toes as he waits for Keith

The door opens. Standing in the doorway is a guy just a couple inches shorter than Lance, wearing black jeans with holes in the knees and a maroon band tee. Lance has always hated mullets, but if anyone could pull one off it was definitely this guy.

"Hi," Keith says, sounding almost more nervous than Lance. It helps to calm his own nerves.

"You're Lance, right?"

"That's me!" Lance replies too excitedly.

"Come on in," Keith says, gesturing into the apartment.

 

It turns out it is as good as it sounds. Although the place isn't exactly the apartment he'd dreamed of as a kid, he wasn't expecting anything like that. He was glad to see the place was fairly clean, especially on such short notice, and he learns Keith has fixed up a few of the old appliances himself.

"It's not that big of a deal, just a couple things my dad taught me before I moved out," Keith says.

"Not a big deal? Most roommates just break stuff, and then refuse to help pay for it," Lance shoots back. Keith's stoic face flickers to a frown for a brief second.

"Well, what do you think of the place?" Keith asks. Was he changing the subject?

"It's pretty sweet," Lance answers, "But, can I ask why you're looking for a roommate?"

Keith bristles.

"I actually already had a roommate until a little over a week ago. Just looking for someone else to split the rent."

Oddly vague? But Lance doesn't think he's the type to be a psychotic murderer, in fact he's pretty nice. And pretty. I mean, he just happens to be somewhat attractive. Not that Lance had payed much attention to that kind of thing.

"So... Do you think you could see me taking their place?" Lance asks hopefully.

A small smirk spreads over Keith's face, causing Lance to raise an eyebrow.

"I think I could."

 

"Guess what guys? I just got moved into an apartment closer to the institute!"

"That's great Lance, I hope you are ready to start working much more often," says a sweet voice in his right ear.

The genuine happiness in Allura's voice is enough to make Lance blush. He's definitely happy they're not talking in person.

"Oh no, you mean I have to hear even more of Lance?" groans a much flatter voice.

"Yes Pidge, and you're going to love it," Lance answers.

"Doubtful."

"You two will have to start getting along if you want to keep those jobs," warns Allura.

"Yes, mom," replies Pidge, who is way more comfortable being sassy with their boss.

"Hey, I'm trying! Pidge, could you put the location I'm headed to on my GPS?" Lance asks as he starts up his company car. It has all of the gadgets you can put on a car, plus a few of Pidge's own design.

"Sure thing."

A pulsing blue blip appears on the car's map.

"Thanks Pidge. I'll head that way."

"Try not to die," Pidge teases, but in a somewhat friendly way.

"That was the plan at least."

 

What Lance see's when he arrives at the scene is nowhere near what he was expecting. A tall, purple, and surprisingly fluffy humanoid looks like it's throwing one hell of a fit, right in the middle of the road. It's quite obviously much stronger than any human Lance has ever seen. He watches it rip a road sign out of the ground and swing it into a building.

"Uh, what the hell _is_ that thing?" Lance asks with a slightly higher voice than he'd like.

"We've no idea," Pidge responds, more serious than Lance has ever heard her, "But we do know it's causing a lot of damage, so if you could maybe start fighting it?"

"Right," he says, reaching for the blue crystal necklace around his neck.

He relaxes at the warmth of the Balmeran crystal, and closes his eyes as a blue light washes over his skin. His cheeks feel hot as strange marks appear there, and his hair fades to a brilliant white.

Lance remembers the day he found the crystal, washed up on the beach, during his senior year of highschool. He kept it around his neck for a few days after. He was lucky enough to still be wearing it when some kid decided to bring a gun to school.

It was the most horrifying experience of his life, maybe part of the reason he decided not to go to college, and he knew not everyone had magic crystals to save the day. So he turned using it into his profession. Now he's learned how to control it, and trained with people like Allura, who found crystals of their own.

Lance grins and steps out of the car.

"Hey you big purple furry, over here!"

"Nice one, Lance," says Pidge, and he can almost hear them rolling their eyes.

It does the trick though. The big purple furry turns toward Lance, and his face portrays almost as much confusion as Lance's had just a moment before. But merely a second later it breaks into a full on charge towards him. Lance however, does exactly the same.

Just before he collides with the monster Lance puts his hands to the ground and launches himself impossibly high over it's head in a supernatural front handspring. The monster however continues forward, straight into a brick wall, only a few feet from Lance's company car.

"Damn, that was a close one," Lance pants.

"You're telling me!" Pidge screeches in Lance's ear, causing him to flinch. "Half a second later and you'd have been a bug on a windshield!"

"No, I meant the car," Lance corrects. "It nearly wrecked my car."

"Of _course_ you did," Pidge replies.

"Anyway, I better get back to fighting this guy while he's down."

Lance pays no mind to her exasperated sigh and runs to the monster as it picks itself up slowly from the ground. It spins toward Lance, looking like a deer in headlights, and then turns away, running around the corner of a nearby building.

"Oh shit, now it's a chase. Pidge, don't let me lose him," Lance says as he breaks into a run after the monster.

"Hey, if you lose it it's on _you_ , not me," Pidge replies, but helpfully guides him anyway. "I can pick out his energy from the humans, it's... different. Keep going straight after that corner."

"Yes ma'am," Lance replies, doing just that. But when he rounds the corner he sees no signs of any big, fluffy, purple dudes.

"Uh, I don't have visual," Lance states quickly between breaths.

"Shit. What? It just... It's not on my map anymore, it's just gone. There's only a few people running away from the fight, the monster disappeared."

"That doesn't make any sense. Maybe your gear messed up? I'll keep looking."

Lance keeps running straight, looking to his sides down dark alleys, but even with his enhanced sight he sees nothing. A crowd of people move nervously away from the scene with police guiding them, but no fluffy purple head towers over them.

"Pidge, I think we just lost the big purple furry," Lance speaks, putting his hands to his hips and finally stopping to catch his breath.

Pidge sighs. "Welp. You get to tell Allura."

"What!" Lance screams, hoping to hurt their ears. "You're already there! I'm not gonna drive over there just to tell Allura I fucked up!"

"Isn't that what you moved for? So you could talk to Allura more often in _person_?" Pidge teases.

"Shut up!" is all Lance can think to reply, face flushing from more than just the chase. He's very aware of the bystanders giving him shocked and confused looks.

Pidge giggles at his embarrassment.

"I'm _kidding_ , I'll update her myself. Your little crush is cute and all, but you should know, she's a flaming lesbian."

"Oh," says Lance, a little surprised by the civil turn of the conversation.

"Thanks for letting me know, you could've just let me embarrass myself."

"It was tempting," they reply with fake seriousness, "But she has an even cuter crush on this new girl at Voltron, and I need someone to talk to about it."

"That does sound super cute, but I've got a new roommate expecting me to be home at a normal time, as if I had a normal job. Maybe text me about it sometime?"

"Sure. Bye, Lance."

She ends the call before Lance can say goodbye too.

 

Lance turns the knob of his new apartment door, wincing at the loud whine. It's nearly 11 o'clock, much later than he originally planned on getting home. Luckily he can hear the TV turned on in the living room, so Keith must not be the type to go to bed super early.

"Hey, you're back a little late," Keith says, looking up at Lance from the couch.

"Oh, yeah. Traffic wasn't great tonight," Lance responds. Lying is not his forte.

"There was some kind of disaster on Fourth Street. If you were in the area that could be why," Keith replies casually, turning back to the TV. He seems to be watching some kind of documentary.

"That was probably it," Lance responds, and it's quite true. "What'cha watching?"

"Some Netflix alien documentary I've seen a million times. You can put something else on if you want,' Keith offers kindly.

"Alien documentary? Don't tell me you think the moon landing was faked too," Lance teases. Is he really roommates with a conspiracy theorist?

"If you don't think there's living beings anywhere but Earth, you're the crazy one in this household," Keith says seriously. "And no, I don't think the moon landing was faked."

Lances lets out a relieved sigh.

"But I don't think they showed us all of the footage."

He can't help it, he bursts out laughing.

"What? You're telling me you think that's all of the moon they explored? I don't think so," Keith shouts, face getting red, eyes wild. Lance hopes he hasn't made him angry.

"Alright, alright. You haven't convinced me, but I'm willing to live with you regardless," Lance says with a soft smile.

For a brief second Keith looks a little shocked, and then a small smile washes over his face. Lance decides he likes that smile.

"I suppose I can live with you too. Even if you do somehow doubt the existence of aliens," Keith says as if it's, ironically, the most unbelievable thing in the world.

"I never said that," Lance corrects, "Although, aliens having visited Earth? No way."

That brings the wild look back to Keith's eyes. Eyes that, Lance notices, look oddly purple in the dim apartment lights.

The night continues with the two playfully arguing over conspiracies, and eventually Keith 'forces' Lance to watch his alien documentary. Lance fails to stifle small laughs when it gets particularly ridiculous.

"I don't understand what you find so funny about this," Keith says, but the seriousness in his voice only makes Lance laugh again.

"It's just, how seriously you take it is..."

_Endearing_

"I don't know, it's just a little funny to me. But," Lance continues when he sees a fire spreading in Keith's strange purple eyes, "You fiercely believe in it, and it's kind of... admirable."

Keith looks a bit perplexed, like that was the last thing he expected Lance to say. Lance is a little shocked as well. He didn't think he'd be having much more than small talk with Keith during his first night living with him. A few moments of awkward silence pass before Lance changes the subject.

"Why do your eyes look purple?"

Keith’s eyebrows furrow before understanding sets in.

"They're contacts, actually. I have glasses but I mostly prefer contacts. Recently I got some purple ones just for the hell of it."

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Lance replies, wondering the color of his natural eyes, but feeling suddenly too awkward to ask.

"Well, I've got work tomorrow so I guess I should try to get some decent sleep for once," Keith says, standing up from the couch and walking towards his bedroom door.

"Yeah, same here. Night, Keith."

"Night," Keith echos before closing his door.

Lance finally falls asleep that night wondering what was different about Keith that left Lance still thinking about him in the dead of night.


	2. Retail Ruins Keith's Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith bond as roommates, but the Altean and the Galra continue to fight. Lance meets Keith's brother Shiro and his boyfriend Adam, and then stays the night at their apartment with Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I added adashi to this fic as soon as lgbt+ Shiro was confirmed but after season 7 I still have practically nothing to go off of so I hope it's written ok. This whole story is just lots of bonding, both between friends and romantic partners, with some action thrown in. Enjoy!

Keith wakes up the next morning to the sound of an annoying beep and a curious sizzling coming from the kitchen. He growls and turns off the alarm on his phone, immediately wishing he'd gone to bed earlier the night before, but unable to completely regret staying up. It's been a while since he's genuinely enjoyed watching that documentary instead of just using it as background noise.

The growl in Keith's stomach and the scent of breakfast cooking finally pushes him out of bed, and Keith walks groggily to the kitchen

 

"Morning, Keith," Lance greets, oddly energetic for the early hour. He's freshly showered, already dressed for work, and Keith swears his skin is glowing in the morning sunlight.

"Are you not even a little sleep deprived? I feel like a zombie," Keith says, sitting down at the breakfast bar behind Lance. Comparatively he knows he looks like one too. He's still in his pajamas, sporting dark circles hidden behind smudged glasses and even messier hair than usual.

"Sometimes you just get so little sleep you feel energized," Lance answers wistfully, turning away from the stove to look at Keith, who nods in agreement. Lance cocks an eyebrow. "You want pancakes?"

Keith hums, suddenly remembering his hunger.

"Sure. I may be able to fix a couple of things, but I _cannot_ fix a meal."

Lance laughs, and Keith feels a smile tugging at his lips.

"I learned a bit from my mama," Lance explains, "But I'll make it my mission to teach you to cook something, because there's no way I'm gonna cook _all_ the time."

"Only if you help me fix the next thing that breaks," Keith compromises.

"Deal," Lance agrees, setting two plates of pancakes down onto the breakfast bar.

Keith thanks him and grabs a bottle of maple syrup, pouring a bit over his pancakes. Lance, however, completely drowns his own. Keith shakes his head disappointedly, but Lance doesn't seem to notice.

"You look surprisingly different with glasses on," Lance says, squinting at his eyes.

"I think most people do. Especially when you use colored contacts," Keith replies, then takes his first bite. He cocks an eyebrow at Lance. "You're a pretty decent cook."

Lance scoffs. "Decent?" He puts a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "You insult me, Keith."

Keith only smirks.

Lance leaves for work before long, and Keith finally brings himself to go to his own job. Getting a job in retail is perhaps the worst decision Keith has ever made.

 

"You don't fucking have any?"

Keith can feel every muscle tensing at the loud, antagonizing voice of the customer in front of him. A middle aged man who thinks he's entitled to everything. Exactly the kind of person Keith hates dealing with, the kind that always seem to get him riled up.

"I'm sorry, sir," Keith forces out, trying not to sound sarcastic, "they won't be restocked until tomorrow."

"I bet you're fucking sorry. You should be fired."

Keith only blinks, forcing himself to stand still and not yell back at the man. He sees the eyes of a nearby coworker flick towards the obnoxious man, concern written obviously on his face. Keith gives him a _save me_ look.

"Hi, can I help you?"

The coworker walks up the angry man, distracting him from Keith. His name is Hunk, and he's well aware of Keith's anger problems, as well as one of Keith's only consolations during work. Hunk gestures Keith towards the break room and takes over helping the costumer. Keith makes a mental note to thank him later. Right now he needs to get away.

Keith does take a break, but rather than staying in the break room, he walks straight outside of the building, searching for somewhere isolated. He can feel it, for the third time this week, a power overcoming him, changing him. Keith finds an empty alleyway, but he knows it will only help for a couple minutes.

An uncomfortable heat washes over him like a fever, and everything gets covered in a purple haze. Keith can't see the details of his surroundings, can just almost hear the cars driving nearby, or smell the gas fumes. He can hardly feel anything over the suffocating warmth, like strong humidity. He can barely think over the urge to destroy something, or maybe someone.

He hates it. The lack of control frightens him. And there's nothing Keith can do about it, no way for him to stop it once he's angry. But he remembers the last time it happened, just last night. How a superhero, _the Altean_ , showed up and stopped him. Keith hopes he makes an appearance again, hopes he can save him from that monster he keeps turning into.

It's like a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. Keith watches with defeat as his own body wrecks everything around him. Except it's not his own, it's changed, bigger, taller, and inhumanly strong. Keith notices his clothes seem to have transformed, too, into something very protective.

Eventually the police show up, but their weapons don't seem to do any harm to him. Luckily, he's yet to have actually hurt anyone, at least not much, but his eyes scan the shocked expression of every face he sees, searching for the man that caused him to turn into this monster. Keith isn't sure what will happen if he _does_ find him.

"Well, well, we meet again, huh?"

Keith turns toward the voice, relief already washing over him. The superhero known as the Altean stands in front of him on the hood of a car, presumably to make himself taller. His stark white hair contrasts against warm skin, and he wears odd looking armor in shades of blue and white.

"I don't think I ever introduced myself. I'm the Altean," he says, framing his chin with an index finger and a thumb. He then points the finger gun at Keith. "And you?"

For some reason, Keith responds. "The Galra," he says in a voice deeper than his own. Or rather, the Galra says it.

"Not so nice to meet you. Get ready to get your ass kicked."

Keith only snarls in response, but he feels a weight in his hand that wasn't there before. When he raises his hands he sees that he's holding a strange sword with markings glowing even more purple than the world around him. Where the hell did it even come from?

"Bringing the big guns this time?" the Altean says. "Or, sword. _I'm_ the one with the guns."

Sure enough, an equally alien looking gun of some sort seems to materialize in his hands, and not a second later he aims it at Keith. Keith finds himself a bit more frightened now than relieved.

Whatever shoots from the Altean's gun is definitely more harmful than the bullets from the police. That being said the Galra still charges forward towards his enemy. The Altean quickly hops off the car and slides beneath the Galra's blade.

The Altean’s gun glows, morphing into a sword, although a much different style than the one in Keith's hands. While still on the ground the Altean slashes at Keith's leg, making Keith yelp in pain. He then quickly stands up and runs, getting some distance between himself and the Galra.

"This thing's new." Keith hears the superhero say as he looks over the sword. "Well, guess we better knock this guy out so he can't run away again." Keith vaguely wonders who 'we' includes.

He isn't sure what happens when he gets knocked out as the Galra, but Keith suspects it would bring him back to his normal self. As great as that sounds, he has a feeling the Altean wouldn't believe he's innocent. Not that Keith believes it either. Whether or not it's true, Keith feels as if he might be turning back into himself, and he doesn't want the Altean believing he's completely responsible for everything the Galra has done.

For the first time Keith and the Galra have ideals that lead to the same solution. He makes a break for it, running full speed away from the Altean, turning suddenly down an alley.

"Oh no you don't! Not this time!" Keith hears from behind him.

Before he even knows what's happening something falls on top of Keith, and the blurry purple world turns completely black.

 

"Well, I don't see any giant purple 'Galra' dudes, but there is definitely a human under this car."

Keith slowly regains his consciousness. He blinks, wondering if he's gone blind, because all he can see is black. Keith hears footsteps, and then a small ray of light shines through... whatever is blocking the rest of it. Dust settles around him, making him cough.

"Oh, good, you haven't killed them yet, I hear coughing. You made the car fall, can't you lift it up again?"

It sounds like the Altean. Keith hears a second voice, too quiet to understand, as if coming from a phone.

"Okay, okay, I can probably lift it just fine anyway."

The object on top of Keith seems to lighten just barely. Daylight filters through, and he can see again. He seems to have gotten stuck beneath a car, maybe one that the Altean dropped on the Galra? How he could accomplish that, Keith has no idea.

"Hey, can you able to move?" the Altean asks Keith. "I can pull you out, you just need to grab my hand."

A hand appears, coming from the light, and Keith reaches for it. His hand is surprisingly soft, with no callouses, much unlike Keith's own hands. The Altean pulls Keith out while amazingly holding the car up with only his other hand. Keith is too shocked and still a little out of it to say anything. The Altean seems a little surprised too, staring at him strangely for just a second.

"Are you okay, are you hurt?" the Altean asks, looking him over with worried eyes.

Up close and with his vision almost back to normal, Keith notices the strange blue marks on the superhero's cheeks. It takes him a couple seconds to reply.

"Uh, yeah I'm... oddly fine. Just a couple bruises, and a little dazed, " he finally replies. 

"Are you sure? I didn't think there was anyone still over here, what were you doing?" he continues questioning.

"Um," Keith pauses, trying to come up with something convincing on the spot. He glances around, noticing he's still in the same alley he'd run to as the Galra. "I work nearby, I went outside while I was on break. I... don't remember what happened right before I got knocked out, though."

It's not a total lie, it just leaves out the whole 'this guy and the Galra are the same person' thing.

"Hmm, well I hope your memory comes back soon," the Altean says, apparently convinced. "Can you get home on your own?"

"Yeah, my brother lives nearby, he can come get me," Keith reassures, this time truthfully.

"Alright, well I'll take a look around but I don't think there's any danger nearby. Stay safe getting home!" he says the last bit sternly as he turns to walk away.

"Don't worry, about me" Keith says, still staring at the Altean, a bit in awe, as he reaches for his phone to call Shiro.

"So, do you wanna tell me what's going on?"

Keith sighs. They've been driving in silence for a few minutes, and Keith has used that time to come up with what is, with any luck, a convincing story.

"It's a little crazy..." Keith starts. Shiro raises both of his brows expectantly.

"I was at work and some guy was being an ass, and I just needed to get out and get some air. So I went on break," Keith explains truthfully. "Then some kind of monster appeared, and with all of the people trying to get away it was mayhem. I took a detour to avoid the crowd, but it took me too close to the fight between the Altean and the monster. Something fell on top of me and knocked me out. When I came to the monster was gone, and the Altean helped me out of the rubble. Right after that I called you."

"Are you injured?" Shiro asks, glancing briefly at Keith as if expecting to suddenly notice a gaping wound.

"No, I'm fine, I just have a couple bruises," Keith reassures.

Shiro sighs. "It feels like you're always getting into some kind of trouble."

"I'm not trying to!" Keith says, voice rising and shoulders stiffening. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Why don't you stay the night at my apartment?" Shiro offers.

"It's not even dusk, I can just head back home in an hour or so," Keith dismisses.

"Look, I know you say you're fine, but just in case. And it's a good excuse for you to take a break from work." Shiro says softly. "Adam and I would both love to spend some more time with you," Shiro says in an attempt to guilt Keith.

"Okay, fine," Keith says, relaxing back into his seat. "I should call Lance though."

"Lance?"

"My new roommate."

"You should invite him," Shiro offers, but Keith doesn't think there's any choice.

" _Alright,_ is there anything _else_ I can do for you?" Keith asks sarcastically. It actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, but Keith doesn't plan on telling that to Shiro.

"No, I think that's it." Shiro deadpans.

"Older brothers..." Keith mumbles quietly to himself. He notices Shiro smile as he stares ahead at the road.

 

"Keith, it's good to see you," Adam says, poking his head into the entryway from the living room when he hears the door of the apartment open.

"Hey Adam, same to you."

The apartment is familiar, although Keith hasn't visited in a while. Not much has changed, the same homey furniture is in all the same places. The open floor plan makes it feel much more spacious than Keith's own apartment. 

Keith finds himself glancing at the pictures around the living room. Pictures with Keith, Shiro, and Shiro's parents who adopted Keith after his pop died. He also notices newer ones, engagement photos that Adam must have begged Shiro for. They look happy, and Keith looks away with a soft smile. 

Shiro walks right up to Adam, kisses him on the cheek, and explains. "Keith's staying the night, and his roommate Lance is coming over too."

"Another boyfriend?" Adam asks curiously, raising an eyebrow at Keith.

"We're not dating, he's just a roommate," Keith denies.

"Sure," Shiro says, as if unconvinced.

"What's that supposed to mean? I haven't even talked to you about him." Keith replies defensively.

Shiro doesn't respond, and Adam only smiles and changes the subject. Shiro checks Keith for injuries, although besides bruises he only finds a couple small cuts, which are quickly taken care of. The three of them talk for a while, Keith retelling his encounter with the Altean for Adam.

Sooner than expected a knock on the door announces Lance's arrival. Keith starts to stand up, but Shiro beats him to the door. There's a second of silence after the door opens, and Keith glances at them curiously.

"Hi, Lance right?" Shiro welcomes, sounding a little off.

"Yup, that's me." Lance says nervously. Keith sighs.

"Shiro don't scare him," Keith says in annoyance as the two walk into the room.

"I'm not scared! I just wasn't expecting to meet any of your family yet," Lance says, defending his pride.

"Don't worry," Adam reassures, "I know it's surprising Keith could be related to Shiro, he's nowhere near as cute."

"Adam!" Keith and Shiro say simultaneously, Shiro blushing from the compliment and Keith red from the insult. Lance giggles, relaxing a bit.

"I don't know that I would say that," Lance replies, blushing a little himself, and Keith wonders what exactly he's implying.

"Sorry I don't share all of Shiro's genes, that tends to be what it's like when you're adopted," Keith says in response to Adam.

" _What_ , I didn't know that." Lance looks at Keith as if waiting for an explanation.

"My pop was a firefighter, died when I was young. I never knew my mom," Keith says, trying to be brief and not to ruin the happy mood. Luckily Shiro helps him out.

"He's convinced his mom was an alien."

Everyone laughs, except Keith, of course.

"It's a completely plausible theory!" Keith justifies, face turning red again.

"That _does_ sound like Keith," Lance says staring at him with a cute smile. He seems to realize and quickly darts his eyes away.

Shiro clears his throat. "I suppose we should start cooking dinner. Well, not me, I'm undeniably the worst cook I know, and I know Keith."

Keith grimaces at Shiro, but doesn't say anything, because he really is a pretty bad cook.

"I can help out. I'm ' _pretty decent_ ' according to Keith, which I think is an understatement," Lance offers happily. 

"No, you're a guest, I can do it just fine on my own," Adam says, waving him off.

"Oh don't play the guest card on me, it'll be done sooner if I help," Lance says, already following Adam into the kitchen. He's much more comfortable around new acquaintances than Keith.

Shiro moves to sit closer to Keith. "You found a good roommate," he says casually.

"Yeah, he's been pretty great. But it's only been a couple days."

"It's not always bad to... expect the worst," Shiro starts cautiously, looking Keith directly in the eyes, "but Lance isn't like you're last roommate."

"How can you know that? You _just_ met him," Keith responds doubtfully.

"Just... trust me Keith. Lance is no Lotor." Keith sighs and turns away. He's been trying not to think of that name.

"I don't think he would be my roommate right now if he reminded me of him at all." Keith looks back at Shiro with a barely-there smile. "But, thanks for the reassurance.

After dinner when, when the sun begins to set, the group decides to put on a movie. Adam and Shiro sit next to each other on a loveseat, Shiro eventually leaning his head on Adam's shoulder. Keith thinks it's disgustingly cute, and Lance smiles softly every time he sees the two being fond. Keith and Lance share the bigger couch. Lance stretches his legs across the gap between them and props his legs up on Keith.

"You're annoying," Keith says simply, not even glancing at Lance.

"You're a great footrest," Lance shoots back with a grin. Keith rolls his eyes and pushes Lance’s feet off of himself.

"Fine then." Lance lies down so that he's looking at the TV sideways, with is legs curled up and his head next to Keith, but not right up against him. Keith finds himself staring for a moment before glancing back up at the movie.

When the credits roll Keith notices Shiro and Lance have both fallen asleep.

“You guys can sleep in the guest room, I’ll carry Shiro to bed,” Adam says quietly to Keith.

“Like share it? Also, you’re gonna carry _Shiro_?” Keith asks.

“Yeah,” Adam says, answering both questions. “I don’t wanna just leave Lance on the couch when we have a bed.”

Keith then watches in awe as Adam picks up Shiro in his arms, a man about the same height as Adam and maybe a little broader, and carries him to their bedroom.

Keith looks down at Lance sleeping quietly on the couch. He admits to himself, Lance definitely looks pretty while he’s sleeping. Not that he doesn’t when he’s awake, he’s just much less loud. But Keith also admires that loudness, and how easily Lance is able to be himself around anyone.

Keith sighs and picks Lance up bridal style, careful to avoid waking him up. He’s surprised to find he’s rather light for how tall he is. Keith carries him to the guest room, managing to get the door open with Lance occupying both of his arms, and lays him down on one side of the bed. Keith turns on one warm lamp light, to avoid running into anything. Only when Keith walks around and pulls back the sheets on the other side does Lance finally stir.

“Keith?” Lance calls out groggily. Keith walks back around to Lance, wondering just how awake he is.

“Go back to sleep, Lance,” Keith’s voice hums softly. He feels more likes he’s taking care of a black out drunk frat boy than a sleepy and completely sober one.

“What are you doing?”

“I _was_ trying to avoid waking you up,” Keith replies, picking Lance back up and carrying him to the side with the sheets pulled back. 

“Hmm,” Lance hums, smiling sleepily and leaning into Keith. “Thanks, Keith.”

Keith can feel the blush on his cheeks, but Lance’s eyes are closed again 

After getting Lance in bed Keith turns off the light and does the same for himself. He doesn’t have clothes to change into, but strangely he feels tired enough to fall asleep wearing a pair of jeans. As soon as Keith’s head hits the pillow he forgets Lance is even in the same room, and quickly falls asleep.

When Keith wakes up the next morning it’s in an otherwise empty bed. After a couple of minutes he manages to get himself up and leaves the room in search of Lance. Instead, he only finds Adam and Shiro, both drinking coffee in the kitchen.

“Where’s Lance?” Keith asks, sitting down next to Shiro.

“He left just a few minutes ago, said he needed to go home and get ready for work,” Shiro answers. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you to go get your car.”

Keith can’t figure out why he spends the whole ride to his car thinking of Lance, peacefully asleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones was longer than the first chapter, because I felt like the first one was too short. I had fun writing the Keith, Lance, Shiro, and Adam group scenes and I hope it was just as much fun to read. Idk if any of you are homestucks but if you _are_ , that part during the movie where Lance lays down on the couch with his head next to Keith? Inspired by that one davekat moment. You can also check out my tumblr, @renistrash if you're interested!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not used to writing fanfic so feel free to give criticism, or praise lmao, validate me. I actually felt really good about this fic idea and I hope the writing is decent enough, I'm definitely rusty. Hopefully I'll find the time to write another chapter soon but school will be starting early next month and I don't have a history of updating stories often, but I also don't have a history of writing whole chapters in just a few days, and here we are. Thank you so much for reading!


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